Senior Catholic priest Franco Mulakkal, accused of rape by a nun, has written to the Pope offering to "step aside temporarily" as bishop of Jalandhar diocese, a move which comes ahead of his appearance before the Kerala police on Wednesday to join the investigation in the case.

A spokesman of the diocese said the bishop wrote to the Pope on Sunday. The bishop has written "a letter to Holy Father Pope Francis expressing his desire to step aside temporarily and requested to be relieved from the administration of the diocese," the Jalandhar diocese said in a release.